Songfacts®:

• Doja Cat's third studio album, Planet Her, was released in June 2021 to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album's pop and R&B influences drew praise from critics, but some fans criticized Doja Cat for being too pop for a rapper. In response, Doja Cat renounced the rap genre on Twitter, calling her past two albums "cash grabs." Speaking with Elle in 2022, she vowed that her upcoming album would be a resounding return to her rap roots.
  
  With "Attention," her first solo single since 2022's "Vegas," Doja Cat delivers on her proclamation. The feline-monikered artist ditches the catchy pop hooks in favor of hard-hitting rap verses that punch like a heavyweight champion, melded with a boom-bap-leaning beat.
• Throughout the song, Doja strikes back at her detractors, as she recalls the relentless public scrutiny she's faced.
  
  The pre-chorus sets the stage, as Doja admits she craves attention but doesn't necessarily need to be adored above all else. She entices:
  
  Show you how to touch it, hold it like it's precious.
  It doesn't need your love, just your attention
  
  On the hook, Doja unapologetically admits her hunger for attention:
  
  Love me. it needs, it seeks affection
  So sweet, hungry, it fiends attention
• During the first verse, Doja addresses her exit from The Weeknd's 2022 After Hours stadium tour, as she had to recover from tonsil surgery.
  
  I could've been an opener, I redirect the bookin'
  
  Doja asserts that all attention is equal to her. She acknowledges reading trolling comments and shrugs off those who suggest therapy. With her unyielding confidence, she addresses the backlash she faced after she shaved her head in 2022.
  
  Lookin' good, but now my bald head match my
  Lookin' good, but now they all sayin' that I'm ugly
• In the second verse, Doja comments on her peers within the rap game who "fall in the beef" with artists who looked up to them. She dispels any notion of rivalry with Nicki Minaj, happy to be compared to such a legend. In her eyes, being likened to the best only affirms her expertise.
• Doja Cat wrote "Attention" with the song's producers, Y2K and Rogét Chahayed.
  
  LA-based producer Y2K (birth name Ari Starace) reached #55 on the Hot 100 with his single "Lalala" in 2019. He co-produced four tracks on Planet Her, including the Ariana Grande collaboration "I Don't Do Drugs" and also "Get Into It (Yuh)."
  
  Rogét Chahayed co-produced two Planet Her tracks: "Kiss Me More" and "Ain't S--t," as well as the single Doja Cat recorded for the Elvis movie, "Vegas."
• In the Tanu Muino-directed music video, Doja Cat takes us on an unsettling journey through the dark underbelly of fame. Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, we witness Doja as she roams the streets, maneuvering through a sea of fans and peculiar masked strangers, creating an eerie and haunting atmosphere.
  
  Ukrainian director Tanu Muino's other credits include Cardi B's "Up," Lil Nas X's "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" and Harry Styles' "As It Was."
• Doja performed "Attention" at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where it won for Best Art Direction. It was up for Video Of The Year but lost to "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift, who also bested Doja in the Artist Of The Year category.